AFRICA: Libya’s UN-backed unity government moved to cement control over the country’s finances and institutions after the rival administration ceded power in an effort to end years of chaos.

AMERICAS: Some 50,000 people marched in the Peruvian capital, Lima, to protest against the presidential candidacy of frontrunner Keiko Fujimori, 24 years to the day after the coup d’état staged by her father.

ASIA: Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was set to leave his post after 10 years to pave the way for a successor to be appointed.

MIDDLE EAST: The Syrian army and its allies launched an attack overnight on insurgents south of Aleppo, described as the fiercest government assault since February’s ceasefire came into effect.

TECHNOLOGY: Fang Binxing, the “father” of China’s Great Firewall, was forced to use a VPN to bypass his own creation during a public lecture.

TOP STORY

North Korea: New missile system, illegal funding show a secure regime.

North Korea has developed a large-caliber multiple launch rocket system and could use it to strike South Korea as soon as this year, the South’s defense minister said.

The completion of the new weapon has drawn attention to North Korea’s escalating artillery threats to South Korea, especially along the inter-Korean border region and the capital city of Seoul.

Despite purges of numerous high ranking officials and last year’s removal of the country’s defense minister, there are no indications of growing instability in the North Korean leadership, an unnamed South Korean official said.

Detailed in the leaked Panama Papers, Nigel Cowie, a British banker with ties to North Korea, set up an offshore company allegedly used by the isolated and heavily sanctioned state to fund its nuclear quest and sell weapons.

Under the mid-term defense plan, South Korea’s military plans to deploy surface-to-surface guided missiles with a range of 120 km by 2019 in response to the DPRK’s new multiple rocket launchers.

Angola: The death toll from yellow fever outbreak in the country has risen to 225, with an estimated 1,600 cases now recorded, Health Minister Luis Sambo said. (Reuters)

Libya: The nation’s UN-backed unity government moved to cement control over the country’s finances and institutions after the rival administration ceded power in an effort to end years of chaos. (AFP)

South Africa: Calls are growing for President Jacob Zuma to resign despite a defeated opposition motion to remove him because of a spending scandal. (AP)

AMERICAS

Brazil: A Brazilian legislative committee decided to schedule a vote for 11APR on whether to pursue impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. (Xinhua)

Peru: Some 50,000 people marched in the capital, Lima, to protest against the presidential candidacy of frontrunner Keiko Fujimori, 24 years to the day after the coup d’état staged by her father. (AFP)

Region: China has begun operating a lighthouse on one of its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea. (Reuters)

Afghanistan: The “Islamic State” terror group located in the nation is growing and wants to use the country “as a springboard to expand further,” Russian Foreign Ministry official Zamir Kabulov said. (Xinhua)

Bangladesh: Nearly 20 million Bangladeshis are still drinking water poisoned with high levels of arsenic, a new Human Rights Watch report suggests. (Guardian)

Vietnam: Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was set to leave his post after 10 years to pave the way for a successor to be appointed. (DPA)